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Welcome to Luxemburg, Iowa!
   
Luxenburgsign.jpg (36484 bytes) We're entering the Main Street of Luxemburg, IA, from the west. The town is located in Liberty Township, Dubuque County, in the northeastern part of the state, just a few miles north of New Vienna and Dyersville, IA.
Luxemburg is located a few miles north of New Vienna and a few miles west of Holy Cross, Iowa.  All three towns were first settled by Luxembourger and German immigrants. Originally, this area was inhabited by members of the Sac and Fox Indians.  In 1832, Chief Black Hawk surrendered to the U.S. forces, and a treaty of peace was made.  It called for the purchase of Indian land by the U.S. Government.  Shortly thereafter, European immigrant settlers began to arrive. Liberty Township was first settled between 1838-1851 by English, Irish, Luxembourg, and German immigrants.
church1.jpg (23902 bytes) Some of the early Luxembourg settlers in the town included these family names: Henkels, Heiderscheit, Marnach, Wagner, Kahl, Ungs, Gaul, Simmerl, Duster, Lucas, Link, and Colbert.  By the mid-1850s, about 60 families requested a Catholic church, and the first frame structure was built in 1861 and dedicated in 1865.  The second church (at left) was built in the early 1870s.  Here is a view of Holy Trinity Church in Luxemburg, Iowa, as seen from Main Street.  The first school opened in the mid-1850s; its earliest teachers were Anton Pfeffer, then Peter Simmerl.  In 1878, the Franciscan Sisters of LaCrosse, WI, began teaching in the school.
Holytrinitychurch.jpg (38129 bytes) This statue of St. Isidore, patron saint of farmers, stands in front of Holy Trinity Church in Luxemburg, Iowa.  The Centennial Observance of Holy Trinity Parish notes that the parish history is the story of a "group of sturdy farmers" who "decided they wanted a church and a Catholic School.  They organized the parish, collected money, and put up a church.   The actual building of the church was the work of their own hands.  The clumsy script of their names on the church pledges shows they were hard-working men with calloused hands" (20).  The parish remains a rural one today.
flags.jpg (22364 bytes) The first businesses in Luxemburg included Shroeder's General Store (now Ungs General Story), Goebel's Blacksmith Shop, the U.S. Post Office, the Luxemburg Bank, the Ungs Creamery, and carpentry and stone masonry businesses.    Today, the U.S., Luxembourg, and Iowa flags fly proudly over the new City Hall of Luxemburg.
vote1.jpg (39617 bytes) This memorial sculpture, which stands in front of City Hall, was donated by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to  Luxemburg, Iowa, in commemoration of the U.S. soldiers who helped liberate Luxembourg during World War II.   Similar memorials were given to the towns of Luxemburg, MN, and Luxemburg, WI.